High School Students Address Sources of Violence at Illinois Youth Summit On May 1

CHICAGO, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Illinois-Racial profiling, guns, and
public morality are among the issues to be tackled by 200 high school student
delegates to the 2001 Illinois Youth Summit in Chicago on May 1, from 8:30 AM
to 2:30 PM at the Dirksen Federal Building, 219 S. Dearborn Street, 25th
Floor.
Now in its seventh year, the Summit focuses on issues of violence
affecting youth that students select themselves for study and action. At the
Summit the student delegates will share their viewpoints and experiences with
state and federal policymakers.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in this important
forum," said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, who sits on the Senate Judiciary
Committee and will participate from Washington via video-teleconference on gun
safety. "All of us should listen to the advice of students who have a very
real stake in the debate over school violence."
Other federal policymakers scheduled to participate in person or from
Washington include U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald, OJJDP Administrator John
Wilson from the U.S. Department of Justice, and Deputy Director Jim Davids of
the newly created Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Among the Illinois policies students will address is whether to repeal a
provision of the Illinois Juvenile Court Act which mandates that youth who are
15 or 16 years old and are arrested for violations of the Illinois Controlled
Substances Act within 1,000 feet of public housing property be automatically
tried in the adult court. A report just released by the consortium Building
Blocks for Youth notes that 99 percent of these automatic transfers in Cook
County in 1999 and 2000 were either African American or Hispanic. Scheduled
participants by video-teleconference from Springfield include State
Representatives Barbara Flynn-Currie and Thomas Dart, and State Senator Barack
Obama.
In addition to study, students conducted a survey and community service
projects addressing these issues. Over 2,000 responses to the survey have
been tallied, and the results are available on-line at
http://www.crfc.org/survey/survey.html . Descriptions of student service
projects also are also posted on the summit web site at
http://www.crfc.org/summit2001.html .
"It's very refreshing to meet people from local schools to schools very
far away that are committed to working on an idea," said Kenwood Academy
junior Ashley Cooper. All of these issues are part of a teenager's everyday
life, she added, "whether or not they are conscious of it."
The Illinois Youth Summit is conducted by the Constitutional Rights
Foundation Chicago (CRFC), a non-profit, non-partisan organization that has
helped schools foster critical thinking skills and responsible actions in
students for over 25 years. In addition to the Youth Summit, CRFC conducts
law-related educational programs for elementary and secondary students in
Illinois and across the nation.
Funding for the 2001 Illinois Youth Summit is provided in part by the
Illinois Violence Prevention Authority; the Illinois Violent Crime Victims
Assistance Program administered by Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan; and
Youth for Justice, a cooperative program supported by the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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SOURCE Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago

CHICAGO, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Illinois-Racial profiling, guns, and
public morality are among the issues to be tackled by 200 high school student
delegates to the 2001 Illinois Youth Summit in Chicago on May 1, from 8:30 AM
to 2:30 PM at the Dirksen Federal Building, 219 S. Dearborn Street, 25th
Floor.
Now in its seventh year, the Summit focuses on issues of violence
affecting youth that students select themselves for study and action. At the
Summit the student delegates will share their viewpoints and experiences with
state and federal policymakers.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in this important
forum," said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, who sits on the Senate Judiciary
Committee and will participate from Washington via video-teleconference on gun
safety. "All of us should listen to the advice of students who have a very
real stake in the debate over school violence."
Other federal policymakers scheduled to participate in person or from
Washington include U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald, OJJDP Administrator John
Wilson from the U.S. Department of Justice, and Deputy Director Jim Davids of
the newly created Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Among the Illinois policies students will address is whether to repeal a
provision of the Illinois Juvenile Court Act which mandates that youth who are
15 or 16 years old and are arrested for violations of the Illinois Controlled
Substances Act within 1,000 feet of public housing property be automatically
tried in the adult court. A report just released by the consortium Building
Blocks for Youth notes that 99 percent of these automatic transfers in Cook
County in 1999 and 2000 were either African American or Hispanic. Scheduled
participants by video-teleconference from Springfield include State
Representatives Barbara Flynn-Currie and Thomas Dart, and State Senator Barack
Obama.
In addition to study, students conducted a survey and community service
projects addressing these issues. Over 2,000 responses to the survey have
been tallied, and the results are available on-line at
http://www.crfc.org/survey/survey.html . Descriptions of student service
projects also are also posted on the summit web site at
http://www.crfc.org/summit2001.html .
"It's very refreshing to meet people from local schools to schools very
far away that are committed to working on an idea," said Kenwood Academy
junior Ashley Cooper. All of these issues are part of a teenager's everyday
life, she added, "whether or not they are conscious of it."
The Illinois Youth Summit is conducted by the Constitutional Rights
Foundation Chicago (CRFC), a non-profit, non-partisan organization that has
helped schools foster critical thinking skills and responsible actions in
students for over 25 years. In addition to the Youth Summit, CRFC conducts
law-related educational programs for elementary and secondary students in
Illinois and across the nation.
Funding for the 2001 Illinois Youth Summit is provided in part by the
Illinois Violence Prevention Authority; the Illinois Violent Crime Victims
Assistance Program administered by Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan; and
Youth for Justice, a cooperative program supported by the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Department of Justice.
MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here
http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X65383332
SOURCE Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago